10/01/2015 - Cycle Touring New Zealand - Day 8 - Up and down, up and down

Distance cycled: 61.6km from Helena bay to Paihia, North Island, New Zealand.
Average speed: 13.4km/h
Moving Time: 4h35m
Elevation Ascended: 1419m
Total Distance on Current trip: 367km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 8,040km
Money spent: $45

The coastal road to the town of Russell was in no way something Marlieke could have known to prepare for, the hills were relentless, short steep climbs leaving one bay and rapid descends to enter another.
I could understand her frustration not having the leg power to cycle up the near impossible gradients and having to resort to physically pushing her bike, especially when I was capable of doing so with a far heavier load. But she shed no tears and again fought through the pains of cycle touring.
Disregarding the arduous efforts of my strong willed missus the views along this coast, like much of what we have seen of New Zealand were again stunning, the sweet spot of blue skies, turquoise waters, sandy beaches, lack of people, pleasant temperatures and relaxed communities making this area a real gem and I hope that it doesn't turn into some holiday resort type of place making it loose the quaint hidden feel.
Marlieke was not taking in the sights simply because the sight of another hill upset/angered her but as I said before she fought through the long day and eventually we made it to Russell.
Here I got in contact with Afro Chris, a friend of my bothers and also of the family.
chris had just moved into his new home at the top of a hill with an epic view of the Bay of islands. At first, because he had only been there for a couple of days and did not know his housemates at all, he was a little hesitant about us staying with him but after a few drinks and after meeting one of his housemates all was well and we were about to stay.

Watch out here!

The town of Russell

Marlieke and Myself

The amazing view of the Bay of Islands fom Chris’ new place in Paihia

09/01/2015 - Cycle Touring New Zealand - Day 7 - How not to kill a bird

 

Distance cycled: 43.3km from Whangarei to Helena Bay, North island, New Zealand.
Average speed: 13.5km/h
Moving Time: 3h11m
Elevation Ascended: 484m
Total Distance on Current trip: 305km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 8,102km
Money spent: $22

On our detour from the main highway towards the town of Russell I saw a native red beaked bird on the side of the road struggling to walk, my assumption was that it was clipped by a car, it couldn't flee from me and so the right thing to do was to put the thing down.
Marlieke had done such a thing to a chicken once before and she gestured the process as simple as breaking a paddle pop stick in half.
I grabbed my gloves (for times when it is cold) picked up the poor creature and attempted to twist the neck until it snapped. I'll tell you know, it wasn't as easy as breaking a paddle pop stick and even after contorting the birds neck in all kinds of positions it released a squark letting me know me that 1. That hurt and 2. What the f$ck are you doing? Panicked, I pushed my fingers into its throat and held tight as the long orange legs flailed about. gripping this birds neck for more than 5 minutes I could feel a pulse at my fingertips but was unsure if it was mine or the poor creature I put through sever pain for what I thought (and probably the bird too) would be a simple death.
Even after this time it's thin legs were still moving about, Ive heard about chickens still running even after having those heads cut off, but was unsure and so I attempted breaking its neck again, this time trying to rip the head away from the body... but failed.
I stood over the black and blue feathery animal that I had thrown into the shrubs in the ditch on the side of the road with what seemed its legs still trying grasping for life yet gradually slowed and then stopped, a sure sign that it wouldn't be getting up again... I hope.
Not a dignified death whatsoever, a pathetic attempt by someone without the slightest idea of how to kill something. I'm sorry little one, I hope I didn't put you through too much suffering and misery.

Helena Bay, North island, New Zealand

Marlieke reaching the top of another hill climb

07/01/2015 - Cycle Touring New Zealand - Day 6 - That's the Spirit Marlieke.

 

Distance cycled: 68.2km from Mangawhai Heads to Whangarei, North island, New Zealand.
Average speed: 12.8km/h
Moving Time: 5h18m
Elevation Ascended: 885m
Total Distance on Current trip: 258km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 8,149km
Money spent: $120

Rejoining the main highway after some beautiful roads from Mangawhai to Waipu was irritating but we managed, having to cycle the narrow shoulders and for safety sake wait at the bridges for no traffic to be approaching for a frantic dash across the bridge to avoid serious injury or possible death.
The day was enjoyable because the sun was out and it just was a lovely flatter road for both Marlieke and I to embrace the fantastic scenery of New Zealand.
One downside for me personally was the onset of an upcoming illness that I caught from Marlieke, hopefully I can fight it and it won't last the 4 days that Marlieke was feeling sick.
We cycled a whole-heartedly 65km today and Marlieke was loving it, except for the scary moments when lorry's would pass by and not give the mandatory 1.5m berth that cyclist need. Given that it was only her 6th day and she was loving the bicycle touring experience despite the pain of her joints, muscles and sunburn and is no longer sobbing over the sight of a hill things are looking great for this trip.
We made it into Whangarei and popped into an information office to figure out a place to sleep, a place where I could recover from this cold and a place to rest Marlieke's tiresome body, preferably with wifi for two nights. Hostels were out of the question being fully booked and all that was left was a camp ground around the corner; it was cheap enough and offered better facilities that the last camp ground we stayed at with a bonus of being able to pitch our tent under the shade of a (although sapping) willow tree.
A very chewy steak dinner was feasted upon (cheap meat from the supermarket) before we crashed out for the night.

Marlieke getting attacked by a small mammal.

06/01/2015 - Cycle Touring New Zealand - Day 5 - Relentless Rocky Roads.

Distance cycled: 29.5km from Lake Tomarata to Mangawhai Heads surf beach, North island, NZ
Average speed: 10.1km/h
Moving Time: 2h55m
Elevation Ascended: 437m
Total Distance on Current trip: 190km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 8,217km
Money spent: $33.50

My God! Gravel roads here in New Zealand are just the worst, at no point can you ride fast as they use golf ball sized rocks with soft sand to make up the road = an average speed of a dismal 10km/h. Yes, it's fine when you have a tire footprint of more than a plank of wood but anything less you left dodging the loose rocks and the sandy pits where the middle ground is far far from pleasant.
Anyway after getting a little lost, stumbling onto a festival ground being fixed up for the events next month and twenty kilometers of the aforementioned terrain our backsides thanked us for finally reaching the smooth asphalt.
We shopped for groceries and pigged out on a few of life's delicacies which were well deserved like ice cream, chips, a caramel slice and a delicious meat pie.
At a small op shop I found some tent poles to replace the well abused ones I have had for well over a year and using blunt tools was able to fix up my tent to make it look as good as new.
With more hills to climb we eventually made it to a beach that at first looked like it was impossible to camp for free but as the late afternoon settled in the mass of people began to leave opening up many opportunities and locations amongst the grass for us to pitch my now sturdier tent.
This surf beach was incredibly picturesque with a lengthy sand dune that disappeared into the distance, steep cliff faces and an offshore island that was easily reachable by swimming. There were some great vantage points to see the sunset, sandy dunes, the town of Mangawhai Heads, cliffs and the waves barreling into land - there was a lot going on in this vista.

Mangawhai Heads

05/01/2015 - Cycle Touring New Zealand - Day 4 - New Zealand's gravel roads...

Distance cycled: 38km from Pakiri beach holiday camp to Tomarata Lake
Average speed: 12.9km/h
Moving Time: 2h58m
Elevation Ascended: 393m
Total Distance on Current trip: 151km
Distance until I have cycled the circumference of Earth: 8,246km
Money spent: $7

Waking up in a caravan park with hyperactive kids running about screaming isn't ideal but this morning was especially bad as Marlieke spent the entire evening coughing her lungs up resulting in me getting woken up more often than I would have liked (to put it nicely).
The dampness of the morning dew entering through the walls of the tent didn't help either but whatever the case we were not going to spend another night at his hell hole albeit the showers were amazing.We slowly but gradually packed our stuff up and we eventually left at around midday.
It wasn't all that interesting of a day cycling but this was great for Marlieke as she only had a few hills to climb and at no point during the day did she shed a tear. Things are looking up for her but I know there was hope.. Why else did I encourage her to come with me on this bicycle adventure.
When the rain fell it didn't bother Marlieke however this is something I despise, thumbs up to her for keeping a positive spirit.
Unfortunately many of the roads here in New Zealand are gravel, and not of the nice kind either, it's washboard gravel, the type of road that would kill cars let alone fully loaded bicycles. It's an excruciating experience having climbed to the top of a hill only to constantly embrace the brakes on the down hill trying to avoid both the large rocks and bumpy surface. There is no reward in that!
We found a great place to camp for the night, right beside a lake and although there were plenty of signs displaying the 'no camping' sign we did so anyway.